ACORN Worker in Video Reported Duo to Police

NATIONAL CITY, Calif. – Police say a worker with the activist group ACORN who was caught on video giving advice about human smuggling to a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute had reported the incident to authorities.

National City police said Monday that Juan Carlos Vera contacted his cousin, a police detective, to get advice on what to with information on possible human smuggling.

Vera was secretly filmed on Aug. 18 as part of a young couple's high-profile expose.

Police say he contacted law enforcement two days later. The detective consulted another police official who served on a federal human smuggling task force, who said he needed more details.

The ACORN employee responded several days later and explained that the information he received was not true and he had been duped.

Meanwhile, an internal watchdog at the Justice Department said Monday he was reviewing the agency's involvement with ACORN.

Conservatives have called for a criminal investigation of the group.

Inspector General Glenn Fine wrote Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, that his office would examine whether ACORN sought or received any Justice Department grant money, or conducted any reviews of ACORN's use of such money.

More than a dozen state and local authorities are also scrutinizing ACORN, including Maryland's attorney general.